Goal orientation

This paper reports on a study that investigated the effect of self-assessment on a group of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students’ goal orientation. To this end, 57 EFL students participated in a seven-week course. The participants were divided into an experimental and a control group. At the beginning and at end of the semester, both groups completed a goal-orientation questionnaire. However, the participants in the experimental group completed a bi -weekly self-assessment questionnaire throughout the semester as well. The data were analyzed using a Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA). The findings revealed that the students’ learning goal orientation improved significantly in the experimental group. This suggests that practicing self-assessment on a formative basis boosts EFL students’ leaning goal orientation.

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictive power of goal orientation and mental health according to psychological needs of students in distance education System in the academic year of 2016-2017. The statistical population of the study was 1471 students in distance education system among which, by using Cochran formula, 295 individuals were selected as participants through simple random sampling method. The research instruments consisted of three questionnaires measuring goal orientation, psychological needs, and mental health variables. The results show that the components of psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and interactions) have predictive power of goal orientation and mental health. In conclusion, it is necessary to pay attention to the components of psychological needs (autonomy and independence, competency and interactions) in students' educational environments in order to reduce stress levels, to create relaxation and strengthen the targeting. Although, in modern teaching methods, the emphasis is placed on students 'autonomy and independence, the use of combined teaching methods with regard to the benefits of communicating as well as paying attention to students' autonomy is a good way of enabling university students to have mental health and transition goals.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on goal orientation and feeling of inferiority in individuals with physical-motor disabilities. Methods: This study utilized a quasi-experimental methodology. The statistical population consisted of all students with physical-motor disabilities in Kalaleh County (n = 517). Among them, 30 students were selected as a sample using a convenience sampling method. After explaining the purpose of the research and signing the consent form, they were divided into two groups of 15: the experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in eight ACT training sessions (one 60-minute session per week), while the control group only answered pretest and posttest. For this purpose, Elliot and McGregor's Achievement Goal Orientations Scale (2001) and Eysenck's Feelings of Inferiority Questionnaire (1976) were used. Results and Conclusions: The findings indicated the effect of ACT-based training on mastery-approach goal orientation and feeling of inferiority in students with physical-motor disabilities. Examining the means showed that the mastery-approach goal orientation increased, and the feeling of inferiority decreased after ACT.

In recent years, educational studies have acknowledged that academic motivation is a powerful predictor of students' academic achievement. Goal orientation is one facet of academic motivation that concerns the reasons for which students pursue achievement activities. Using AGQ and R-SPQ-2F instruments, this study seeks to identify dominant achievement goal orientation held by Iranian EFL learners and examine the relationships between students' achievement goals, learning approaches, and academic achievement. The sample consisted of 80 EFL students majoring in English Literature and English Translation. The results of the data analysis indicated that the mastery goal is the dominant goal orientation adopted by learners. Afterward, performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals are respectively the achievement goal orientations adopted by Iranian EFL learners. Significant correlations were found between both mastery and performance-approach goals and deep approaches. Performance-avoidance goals were found to be significantly and positively related to surface approaches to learning. In addition, performance-approach goals were positively related to academic outcome, whereas, performance-avoidance goals were negatively related to academic achievement. There was no relationship between mastery goals and students' outcomes. The study also bears some theoretical and practical pedagogical implications regarding the importance of motivation and goal setting which will be offered and discussed in detail at the end of the study.